Letter: Medical marijuana left off pain prescription

Wednesday

Jul 23, 2014 at 3:39 PM

In the July 19 Guest Opinion, “Prescription Monitoring Program shortcomings must be addressed,” Dr. Richard Pieters, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, stated clearly the epidemic of overdose, abuse and death from opiates.

In the July 19 Guest Opinion, “Prescription Monitoring Program shortcomings must be addressed,” Dr. Richard Pieters, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, stated clearly the epidemic of overdose, abuse and death from opiates.

“Patients who experience severe pain will always require treatment and should be able to get relief,” he wrote. His prescription included medication, physical therapy, and acupuncture. He leaves out a very important and proved treatment for pain and potential substitute for opiate addiction: medicinal marijuana.

By classification, there are eleven types of pain. An increased responsiveness by our own endogenous pain control system is responsible. The endocannabinoid system acts as a defense against pain. When CB1 and CB2 receptors are stimulated by marijuana, pain is decreased as proved anecdotally and by randomized placebo controlled clinical trials.

There are more than 10 times the number of these receptors in the central nervous system compared to u-opioid receptors, which are prevalent in the brain stem, responsible for respiration, and the reason opiates kill.

Medical marijuana can also work as an exit drug or drug substitution and often will keep users of opioids at a lower level. Many on opioids find that using marijuana can lessen their usage over time.

Medical marijuana is a viable alternative to pain control and opiate morbidity and mortality. It needs further consideration by our federal government and the DEA (Class l to Class ll) and our own Massachusetts Medical Society. Our Referendum passed a year and a half ago. It is time for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to place into operation what 63 percent of the voters approved.